The Long Crash
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- Create Date：2022-01-22 06:50:56
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Christopher Leonard
- ISBN：1982166630
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Summary
The New York Times
bestselling business journalist Christopher Leonard infiltrates one of America’s most mysterious institutions—the Federal Reserve—to show how its policies over the past ten years have accelerated income inequality and put our country’s economic stability at risk。
If you asked most people what forces led to today’s unprecedented income inequality and financial crashes， no one would say the Federal Reserve。 For most of its history， the Fed has enjoyed the fawning adoration of the press。 When the economy grew， it was credited to the Fed。 When the economy imploded in 2008， the Fed got credit for rescuing us。
But the Fed also has a unique power to reshape the American economy for the worse， which it did， fatefully， on November 4， 2010 through a radical intervention called quantitative easing。 In just a few short years， the Fed more than quadrupled the money supply with one goal: to encourage banks and other investors to extend more risky debt。 Leaders at the Fed knew that they were undertaking a bold experiment that would produce few real jobs， with long-term risks that were hard to measure。 But the Fed proceeded anyway。。。and then found itself trapped。 Once it printed all that money， there was no way to withdraw it from circulation。 The Fed tried several times， only to see market start to crash， at which point the Fed turned the money spigot back on。 That’s what it did when COVID hit， printing 300 years’ worth of money in two short months。
Which brings us to now: Ten years on， the gap between the rich and poor has grown dramatically， stock prices are trading far above what’s justified by actual corporate profits， corporate debt in America is at an all-time high， and this debt is being traded by big banks on Wall Street， leaving them vulnerable—just as they were during the mortgage boom。 Middle-class wages have barely budged in a decade， and consumers are buried under credit card debt， car loan debt， and student debt。
The Long Crash tells the shocking， riveting tale of how quantitative easing is imperiling the American economy through the story of the one man who tried to warn us。 This will be the first inside story of how we really got here—and why we face a frightening future。
If you asked most people what forces led to today’s unprecedented income inequality and financial crashes， no one would say the Federal Reserve。 For most of its history， the Fed has enjoyed the fawning adoration of the press。 When the economy grew， it was credited to the Fed。 When the economy imploded in 2008， the Fed got credit for rescuing us。
But the Fed also has a unique power to reshape the American economy for the worse， which it did， fatefully， on November 4， 2010 through a radical intervention called quantitative easing。 In just a few short years， the Fed more than quadrupled the money supply with one goal: to encourage banks and other investors to extend more risky debt。 Leaders at the Fed knew that they were undertaking a bold experiment that would produce few real jobs， with long-term risks that were hard to measure。 But the Fed proceeded anyway。。。and then found itself trapped。 Once it printed all that money， there was no way to withdraw it from circulation。 The Fed tried several times， only to see market start to crash， at which point the Fed turned the money spigot back on。 That’s what it did when COVID hit， printing 300 years’ worth of money in two short months。
Which brings us to now: Ten years on， the gap between the rich and poor has grown dramatically， stock prices are trading far above what’s justified by actual corporate profits， corporate debt in America is at an all-time high， and this debt is being traded by big banks on Wall Street， leaving them vulnerable—just as they were during the mortgage boom。 Middle-class wages have barely budged in a decade， and consumers are buried under credit card debt， car loan debt， and student debt。
The Long Crash tells the shocking， riveting tale of how quantitative easing is imperiling the American economy through the story of the one man who tried to warn us。 This will be the first inside story of how we really got here—and why we face a frightening future。
Reviews
Christopher Sutherlin
，
Very interesting， and very well written。 It takes a subject that could be very very dry， and makes it riveting。
Kirsten
，
https://www。nytimes。com/2022/01/16/bo。。。 https://www。nytimes。com/2022/01/16/bo。。。 。。。more
Lawrence
，
Handling a difficult and complex subject material， I thought this book did an excellent job of explaining concepts in a way that is comprehensible to most readers。 The overall point of the book is quite simple: the Federal Reserve has sleepwalked into a quantitative easing （QE） trap of large-scale interventions （bailing out the market） that it now can't get out of without letting markets collapse。 A handful of economists foresaw this trap， but they were not listened to because of political press Handling a difficult and complex subject material， I thought this book did an excellent job of explaining concepts in a way that is comprehensible to most readers。 The overall point of the book is quite simple: the Federal Reserve has sleepwalked into a quantitative easing （QE） trap of large-scale interventions （bailing out the market） that it now can't get out of without letting markets collapse。 A handful of economists foresaw this trap， but they were not listened to because of political pressures and the momentum of the Fed Chairman at the time。 Ben Bernanke was revered from his '08 rescue plan， and his insistence on the continuation of QE after the immediate crisis had already passed was backed up by sophisticated projections from the most respected "experts。" Now in hindsight， those expert projections were wildly incorrect。 Thomas Hoenig， the lone dissenting vote against QE2 in 2010， is profiled in detail throughout the book。 Hoenig and other economists opposed to more QE were ostracized in much the same way as the outsiders who foresaw the 2008 housing bubble were。 The main difference between the '08 housing bubble and the Fed's QE quagmire is that the latter has taken more than a decade to clearly materialize。 Now we see clearly the effects that wild asset inflation has had on wealth inequality - which is only going to be further exacerbated if consumer prince inflation continues to outpace wage gains in the coming months and years。The jury is still out on what the future holds， but the current state of markets and the regular far-reaching interventions the Fed takes on a routine basis to prevent financial calamity lends credence to Leonard's central point: that the system has been fundamentally broken。 Anyone interested in economic policy and income inequality will most likely find this book fascinating and indispensable。 The debate around monetary policy transcends traditional political lines， and I believe it's in the interest of everyone to more accurately understand monetary policy and its consequences。 For that reason， I highly recommend this book。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Long Crash
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Long Crash&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Long Crash&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0